Topic: Planting plants (brassicas) in breathable weed control fabric?

[GlentoranMark]

Hi all,
I've been thinking about putting weed control fabric over a bed, cutting holes out and planting plants in the hole?

I was thinking Brassicas would be ideal for this because of their wide spacings. I've never seen anyone do this before so what are the cons?

Any help would be appreciated.

[goodlife]

Well..watering for start would be more of the task,,water will run off along the fabric so you have to aim the planting hole unless you use mulch as well, then you fabric will stay moist and water will go through better..without mulch layer the soil will become really hot underneath and dry out ..
I've use this method and I found it worth while only with something more permanent like strawberries..it didn't really save me from extra work..
And couple of the beds I had mice making nests underneath.. ::)  lovely and cosy...and then came foxy and started ripping the fabric into pieces to get to the mice..
So now I use fabric with strawberries and with anything else just thick layer or  mulch.. ;D

[elvis2003]

just at thought,but wont you be providing a cosy home for slugs and their sluggy chums?

[jimtheworzel]

its a lazey mans way of plottin
get the hoe goinng, open up the soil and let the air in
it works wonders

[Buster54]

Hi GlentoranMark I use it all the time I plant brassicas-sweetcorn-onions-leeks-garlic and strawberry's through it,and water soaks through it,and as for slugs and snails hiding under it,true I do find the odd one or 2 same as I find them under bricks and bits of wood,you will never know if you don't give it a go,oh and don't cut a hole cut an x,I use a portable soldering iron it stops the fabric from fraying

[brownowl23]

Glen I did this last year.

I got a couple of beds that had been a sea of weeds, so to help with us get8ing on top of the plot but at the same time also getting some produce we planted brassicas in a weed control fleece.
 It wokred realy well and meant that for that period of time we didnt have to keep hoeing what we knew would be a ton of weeds and we could concentrate on other parts.

I hasten too add that I havent kept the fleece on ive actually just taken the fleece off and given the bed a good old dig over and planted my next crop.

we had only taken the lottie over last year and with two tiny tots we couldnt get down there every day like some people can so for us this worked

Chris

[GlentoranMark]

Thanks all, I'll give it a try with my cabbages later.

[chriscross1966]

I did it with a lot of things last year and it worked well... You can annihilate the slugs by putting nematodes ion there... the moist conditions seemed to keep a single dose active all summer last year. I only saw surface slugs and pellets will do for them

chrisc

[antipodes]

its a lazey mans way of plottin
get the hoe goinng,

I would prefer to think of it as being time efficient. Why spend all that time digging endlessly when you can plant in other ways? I don't consider myself lazy because I plant some things through plastic or heavy mulch. It means you spend less time weeding and more time getting the most out of your plot.
STill, it's horses for courses I guess...

[tomatoada]

I used it on my compost heap last year and planted squashes, and  had a very good crop.  I put a few slug pellets under it and watered thro' pieces of drain pipe.  I am going to put cauliflowers in some next week.  Time and motion. Making the best of your time, and for me energy.
Go for it.

[plainleaf2]

the fabric will heat soil and make it to hot for brassicas.
as for other issues i will not comment. since they had nothing to do with original question.

[chriscross1966]

The ground doesn't get too hot if you strimm down the weeds first and leave them under the fabrfic, they insulate the soil.... seemed to work for me last year and each time I dug into the soil it semed fine... make the holes as small as you can cos the weeds will find them and come through, you'll need scissors or similar to snip them off, they're too close to the plants for anything else....

chrisc

[Crystalmoon]

Hi I always plant my squash plants through membrane as they trail all over the place & weeding through all their greenery doesnt appeal to me one bit & the mebrane also helps to prevent the rotting of fruit that can happen if the fruit lay on top of soil (seems to happen on my clay soil anyway). I havent had any extra problem with slugs, a few pellets seems to suffice. I take off the mebrane in winter & then move to a different area each year. 
To aid watering & to avoid stem rot I place small plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off & top end down in the soil next to each plant when planting out then just pour water into the bottles.
xJane